Smaller bins planned as council seeks savings

Kirklees Council said smaller wheelie bins would encourage more recycling and reduce costs

Households could see their wheelie bins replaced with smaller alternatives next year, under council plans to save money.

Kirklees Council plans to replace the current 240-litre grey wheelie bins with 180-litre bins, as it seeks to plug a £29.3m budget gap.

A draft budget report for a council meeting taking place later said the move would save £131,000 in the 2025/26 financial year and a further £395,000 the following year.

Council deputy leader Moses Crook said smaller bins would "encourage more recycling and contribute to our climate commitments" while reducing costs.

'Increase recycling rates'

Crook said: "Some councils have chosen to move to three-weekly or even monthly collections for residents.

"We want to keep the current frequency of collections while doing everything we can to increase recycling rates.

"If the new system is agreed, it would mean approximately 160,000 new bins across the district.

"But we spend money for every tonne of waste we don't recycle so a reduction in the amount of waste we put into our grey bins will generate savings for local taxpayers and more than cover the cost of the bins."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, other money-saving measures considered by the council include a 4.99% increase in council tax, reviewing service charges across the council's housing stock and making up to 100 redundancies.

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